The Feel of Change
by dreadfulmime
Summary: Sequel to The Taste of Freedom. Detective Chief Inspector Arthur Pendragon returns to work after his mandatory vacation and is bombarded with changes. He's not a fan of change, except for maybe the new tea he drinks because of Gwen. BBC Luther inspired.
1. The Feel of Change

**Summary:** Detective Chief Inspector Arthur Pendragon returns to work after his mandatory vacation and is bombarded with changes. He's not a fan of change, except for maybe the tea he drinks due to Gwen. BBC Luther inspired.

 **Author's Note:** This is the sequel to _The Taste of Freedom._ Read that before you continue. Or don't. Do what you want.

* * *

 **The Feel of Change**

Arthur slouched in the deep cushion chair of his therapist's office. If he wasn't so anxious to leave, he wouldn't mind sitting in it for a little longer. He threw a quick glance at the clock and saw he had just five more minutes.

Dr. Annis Caerleon rolled her chair back behind her desk, put her elbows on the surface, and folded her hands under her chin. "I don't know about you, but I've greatly enjoyed spending our last session in silence."

Arthur had known her since the day he joined the force, and she's helped on many of his cases. They were on a first name basis, but the moment he sat in her chair, she was in his head, not helping him get into others. In this room she was Dr. Caerleon, and she was great at her job.

Shrugging, Arthur slipped deeper into the couch. He probably looked childish, but he stopped caring after she got him to open the emotional floodgates in their second session. "I think I've run out of things to say, Doc."

"My door is always open if you want to talk more. But is there anyone you can still talk to casually? Guinevere, maybe."

He had mentioned Gwen in the first session, having to describe their experience. Dr. Caerleon made it her mission to ask about her ever since. She'd go from asking how his sister was doing to how Gwen was. Even a, "Gwen seems to know a lot about tea. Could you ask her for some recommendations for me?"

Two minutes left and Dr. Caerleon managed to sneak in another suggestion. "Do you know if she has anyone to speak to? She can come see me. Or you even. It would benefit you both to actually talk about it."

"We don't discuss it," Arthur said curtly. He sat up, parting ways with the chair. He'd miss it more than their conversations. "I'll see you around, Annis."

Annis gave him a true smile, proving she wasn't still dissecting him. "I hope your day back to work is a good one."

* * *

On the first day of his mandatory vacation, Arthur went for a walk and bought groceries. On the elevator back up to his apartment he decided that he didn't want to take an elevator anymore. He contacted his realtor friend and put a bid on a house before he put away the groceries.

He moved in before the month was over, and it only took three steps to get inside his home now. Arthur kicked a box out of his way and flopped down on the couch. It was a new couch and very comfortable.

When he first walked into Annis' office, he had hoped there'd be one of those long, fancy couches he could lay on while she tried to pry into his head. The chair was nice though, and he thought about asking where she got it from. He despised being forced to do therapy, but he had to admit that talking everything out kept him from going mad. Plus, Morgana was going to lose her bet as long as he didn't snap in these last few days of his vacation.

The doorbell rang.

Arthur groaned. He had been a second away from kicking off his pants. _Maybe they'd go away if I don't move,_ he thought.

The doorbell went off again.

 _One more minute,_ he prayed. _One more minute and they'll go away._

"I know you're in there, detective!" Arthur heard Gwen yell from the other side of the door, causing him to get up in surprise. "Your car's in the driveway!"

Arthur opened the door to see her looking very displeased. Then he realized that he never told her he moved. "Uh, hi?" he said hesitantly.

He caught the annoyed twitch in her right eye. "That's all you have to say?" Gwen glared.

"How'd you find me?" he asked in humor.

Gwen shoved a brown paper bag at him, and she let herself in. "Morgana just so happened to mention your new place. How could you not even tell your own sister you were moving until the actual day?" She looked around. "And why would you move everything yourself? It must've been a pain."

"It helped me clear my head." Arthur looked into the bag. It was a bottle of whiskey. " _This_ , on the other hand, will not."

"So how's therapy?"

"Morgana told you about that, too?"

Gwen sat on the couch and tested out the new cushions with a light bounce. "Just another tidbit of information that slipped out."

"She thinks I'll talk to you about it," Arthur stated. "My shrink thinks so as well."

"Aw, you talk about me?" Gwen smiled.

"Well you were there so…" he mumbled, and brought his attention back to the whiskey.

Gwen sighed. "I can't tell Morgana and Freya things. I'm afraid I'd lose their friendship if I do." She pulled her phone out her pocket. It was vibrating. She ignored it, putting it back in her coat and taking it off. "So, are you going to open that bottle or what?"

Arthur went into the kitchen and brought back two mugs. "I broke the good glasses in the move," he said with a sheepish grin.

* * *

The night and the booze had gotten away from them. Arthur had no idea when he fell asleep, and didn't care to figure it out. All he could do was stare blankly at the ceiling until all his senses came back to him. He tried to get movement in his legs, but Gwen's limbs were tangled with his.

She was very still, and Arthur's heart began to pound. "Guinevere?" Nothing. _"Guinevere!"_ he said more forceful and gave her a shake.

"I'm not dead," Gwen grumbled with a frown on her face from the abrupt awakening.

"Just dead weight," Arthur winced at the stiffness in his leg. "Why are you still here?"

"Well, I was in no condition to drive home, and you were in no condition to drive me home. And I could've called a cab, but then my car would've been left here and I'd have to come back and bother you some more. Consider it me doing you a favor." Gwen made an exaggerated stretch, and then snuggled up to him. "I thought about leaving in the middle of the night when I woke up, but you make a very comfortable pillow. Loud. But comfortable."

"Loud?"

"You snore."

"I don't—" Before Arthur could finish arguing, he remembered the position they were in and removed Gwen's arms from around him. He slipped out from under her, and when he went to glance back down at her, he caught a glimpse of more leg than he anticipated and quickly looked away. "So, where you going out, or did you dress up just for me?" He risked a look and saw her dress rightfully adjusted and she was fixing her hair.

Gwen smiled up at him. "Don't flatter yourself. I had a date."

"'Had' as in you had the date and then came here, or you were supposed to go and stood him up?"

"I was early and your place was on the way to the restaurant. And so was a liquor store. I thought I'd get you a housewarming gift," she explained.

"Guys don't enjoy being stood up, either, you know," Arthur grunted, sitting back down next to her because his body was protesting gravity. "How are you feeling? Because I feel like shit. Your date probably does, too, the poor lad."

Gwen blatantly ignored that last bit, and quit fiddling with her hair out of hangover induced frustration. "Have you unpacked a coffee machine?"

"No," Arthur said. "But there's tea."

* * *

 **A/N:** What happened between the time the whiskey was opened and when they woke up will be discussed. Don't worry!

And I can't help but mention Arthur's snoring in like every full length fic lol (I don't think I did it in part one though)

And like _The Taste of Freedom_ feel free to suggest situations/shenanigans ( **not** romantic) that maybe I can throw in this too! I still have a few suggestions from it that I held off on to add in this as well.

 **Thanks** for reading! I hope you stick around!


	2. Itches and Bets

**Itches and Bets**

 ** _Last Night…_**

" _You're a good man. You know that, right?" Gwen said, curled up on the couch her with her drink cradled to her._

 _Arthur knocked back the rest of his. "I know," he smirked. "Tell me more."_

" _And you're stupid."_

" _I take it back."_

" _No." Gwen sat up. "You're stupid. You shouldn't have let Gaius close my case. You should've been firm and said 'No, sir, she killed her husband, and I can prove it!'"_

 _Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Do you feel the need to turn yourself in every time you drink?"_

" _I'm…I'm…" Gwen snapped her fingers, thinking of the right word. "Dangerous!"_

" _Are itching to kill again?"_

 _Gwen burst out laughing. "You would too if you had to deal with dance moms!"_

 _Arthur sighed in relief. A part of him had been afraid that she was going to genuinely say yes. He put his cup on the table and sat back._

" _I could do it," she continued. "I don't know how yet, but I could."_

" _You could poison their artisanal water," Arthur played along._

" _That's cute." Gwen finished her drink. "Killing doesn't suit you," she said quietly into the empty mug._

 _He heard her loud and clear. "I'll try not to do it again."_

 _Gwen looked up and beamed. "Good. Leave it to me. But if you want lessons…" she giggled, and a snort escaped which Arthur found adorable. She made a move to take another drink and remembered it was empty._

" _Still thirsty?" Arthur joked._

 _Gwen made a face at him and stretched to place her mug on the coffee table, but she couldn't reach. Arthur leaned over and passed it off the rest of the way for her. "Whatta gentleman," Gwen gasped lightly with both hands on her chest._

" _I try," Arthur said, tipping his invisible hat to her._

 _In the process of rearranging her position to get more comfortable, Gwen found herself leaning on Arthur and his arm around her shoulders. They reclined in their usual comfortable silence._

" _Hey," Gwen muttered._

" _Hmm?" was Arthur's response._

 _Gwen tilted her head up to see that his was back and his eyes were closed. "You should give me a house tour."_

 _Arthur chuckled at her suggestion. "Some other time. I don't wanna move."_

" _Yeah," Gwen said, relaxing deeper into his hold. "Me neither."_

* * *

 ** _Now…_**

"Who's the guy you stood up?" Arthur asked as he passed Gwen her tea.

Gwen wasn't thrilled with the aroma that it emitted. "Someone's eager to get back in the interrogation room." She took a sip and grimaced.

Arthur anticipated the face she made. "It's horrible, I know. Morgana made a custom blend and gave it as a gift one Christmas. It gets the job done, though."

"It's…" Gwen tried to think of a word that could accurately describe the tea blend. It was an onslaught of citrus, pepper, and God knows what, but she already felt more awake. "Interesting."

After analyzing Moragna's tea, Arthur brought up Annis looking for tea suggestions. Gwen thought he was joking and asked if Annis knew how she killed her ex-husband. Arthur confirmed that Annis was well aware.

"I think I like her. Can you give me her number?" Gwen said. "And maybe I can talk to her about other things."

 _Other things._

It lingered in the air for a moment. Arthur didn't need to push because he knew what she meant.

"Right, so who's the guy?" Arthur asked instead, abruptly bringing the conversation back to where it started.

Gwen powered through the tea with a long sip. "You're so nosey."

Arthur agreed. "I won't deny that."

"I met him last week. I was loading groceries in my car when it started to rain. He had just pulled into the spot next mine. He offered me his umbrella, and then he asked me out," she explained. "That's it."

"Seriously? That's it?"

"Chivalry makes me weak." Gwen took a few more forced sips and patted her face. "I should get going. I've got a dog to feed." She made an attempt to fix her appearance again.

"You look fine," Arthur said.

Gwen dropped her hands. "Are you sure? Because I can't have your neighbors or mine thinking I'm doing the walk of shame."

"I've sent girls off looking far worse than you do," Arthur said casually as he walked her out. A crisp morning breeze hit them, and Gwen shivered which caused a curl to fall into her face. "Since you're so concerned…" He tucked the strand carefully behind her ear.

In the second it took Arthur's hand to remove the hair from her face, Gwen felt a warmth overcome her. "You still owe me a house tour," was all she could think to say.

Arthur crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe. "I guess you'll have to come back, then."

"I guess so." Gwen smoothly turned on her heel and made her way back to her car. Arthur watched until she was down the road and out of site.

A drawn out whistle caught Arthur's attention. His neighbor was waving at him from his front steps.

"Looks like someone had a good time last night." Trevor called out. Arthur learned that Trevor was recently divorced, and in his words, "Newly single and ready to mingle."

Old Mrs. Thorne, his other neighbor, said she doesn't blame his wife for leaving him.

"Morning, Trevor." Arthur forced himself to wave back.

Gwen was right to be paranoid about how she looked when she stepped out with neighbors like Trevor. But to say that she looked fine was an understatement, he had thought. Her dress was barely wrinkled, her lipstick had worn away to a stain, and she didn't have raccoon eyes. That one pesky curl was, to exaggerate, the most scandalous thing about her appearance.

 _Scandalous._

Her body against his on the couch, the flash of her leg, and the smooth skin of her cheek he grazed before moving her hair came to mind. _Don't go there, Pendragon_ , Arthur scolded himself.

He saw Trevor open his mouth again, but before he could hear another asinine comment, Arthur stepped back inside and slammed the door behind him.

* * *

Later that night there was a small dinner at Gaius and Alice's to celebrate Gaius' retirement and Arthur's return to work. As the guys set the table, they continued to poke fun at Arthur for being weird and moving everything himself.

"I wouldn't help my sister move if she paid me, but I would help you in a second, mate," Gwaine said.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Gwaine with the same surprised expression. "You have a sister?" Percival asked for all of them.

"Yep," Gwaine clenched his jaw. "She's awful. Anyone want her?"

On the subject of sisters, Merlin brought up the bet he had with Morgana, and he thanked Arthur for not going crazy from not working. "You saved my wallet."

"Thank Gaius and Annis for making me take the vacation. It was the right time," Arthur said. "And at least you're learning to not bet against me."

Leon leaned on the back of a chair and bowed his head. "Wish I could say the same."

Arthur's head snapped to Leon's direction. "Wait, what?"

The other cop looked up and gave his colleague a sheepish grin. "I was sure you'd come crawling in the office begging to be let back after at least two weeks."

"Traitor," Arthur snickered.

Gaius scratched his chin. "It really is a miracle. You, my boy, are a workaholic."

All but Arthur nodded in agreement. "Fine, fine. I bet you all have a wager for how long I last before I'm at odds with the new superintendent."

"Yes," they answered in unison.

Dinner was spectacular. Alice had gone all out, and even went as far as to make a separate apple pie for Gwaine so he didn't have to share. The dining room was full of laughter as they recounted their shenanigans Gaius had to put up with.

Gaius looked upon each of them as if they were his sons. "I give you all permission to give the new superintendent hell."

Merlin and Gwaine shared a mischievous look. Percival and Leon were more subtle with their amusement, but just as willing.

Arthur was more concerned with the identity of his new boss. "Do you know who he is?"

"I'm in the dark just as much as you," Gaius said. "I guess it will be a surprise."

Arthur wasn't a fan of change, especially when he didn't know what to expect from them. He frowned. "I don't like surprises."

* * *

 **A/N:** Hi everyone! Sorry for the wait, but I had a little battle of the intros. Good thing though because now I already have a start to the next chapter lol

 **Thanks** for reading and reviewing!


	3. Bad Feelings, Bones, and Boredom

**Bad Feelings, Bones, and Boredom**

 _ **One month ago…**_

 _It was the fourth time in an hour that Gwen checked to make sure the door was locked. Tiny made a whimper, having to move his head once again off her lap. "Sorry, boy," she apologized. And just like the other times when she sat back down, his head returned and so did both their comfort._

 _After giving her final statement at the police station, Gaius assured her that everything else was cut-and-dried. She wanted to feel like a weight was lifted off her shoulders, but she had crippled an organization, which caused multiple people to come after her. Did it end with Tauren, or should she check her locks for a fifth time?_

 _Gwen toyed with her phone for a bit. She flipped it in her hand, seeing how many times it would land face up. On the third flip, it landed with the screen face down on her palm. She stared at the fingerprints on the back, and knew she should stop living dangerously and get a case._

 _Even though it would do no good, Gwen was about to wipe away the smudges when she saw a partial print in the corner that was bigger than her own._

 _Arthur's fingerprint._

" _ **I stuck a tracker in your phone when Morgause's people were following you."**_

 _Gwen slid off the back. The chip was still in there. She mind was still on the fact that she wasn't dead, so It slipped her mind to ask him to take it out. But how could Arthur forget?_

 _She called him._

" _Now what?" he answered._

 _Gwen thought he sounded surprisingly upbeat, but still took advantage of his choice of words. "Aw, I thought you were showing improvement in your phone answering etiquette," she teased._

" _Guinevere."_

 _She could practically see him giving her a look that told her to get to the point. "Yes?"_

" _Why did you call?"_

" _Oh, um…" She suddenly decided not to ask about the tracker. "What are you up to?"_

 _There was a pause before Arthur responded. "I just finished packing up. My vacation has officially started."_

" _A vacation sounds nice. I think I'll go for a week in the countryside. Can't stay too long. I've got a studio to open and what not. I already have parents pre-registering," Gwen rambled. "They're serious about their kid's danc—"_

" _Are you okay?" he cut her off._

" _Yeah. I'm fine." In Gwen's mind she said it calmly, and would deny she sounded tense and that he heard it. "Have a nice vacation, Arthur."_

" _Take it easy, Guinevere." He made it sound simple, and Gwen almost thought that she could, but she was also sure she would worry herself to death before anyone else got to her first._

* * *

Gwen fully expected the call to go to voicemail, but instead she got a hesitant hello. "Charles? Hi. It's Gwen…"

"…"

She didn't blame him for his silence and was surprised he didn't hang up already. "I want to apologize for the other day. And the additional day I took to get back to you."

"Thanks you," Charles said. "I was really looking forward to our dinner."

"Can I make it up to you? Are you free for lunch? My treat." _Today might be too soon,_ Gwen got anxious. _I don't even think I'll be ready in ti—_

"Okay," Charles agreed, interrupting her thinking. He picked the restaurant and they chose to meet at one o'clock.

Lunch started off with an uncomfortable handshake and more apologies from Gwen. Charles was on the scrawny side, Gwen noticed. She may have been less willing accept the date offer if she had known what was under his raincoat. She went more for the rough, tough, save the world kind of men. Now she couldn't shake the feeling of his boney hand.

"So," Charles broke another awkward silence, "you apologized a thousand times, but you never said what you blew me off for."

Gwen cleared her throat and took a sip of her water. "About that, um… a friend needed me," she lied. It was the other way around.

Charles smiled at her. "Beautiful and loyal, a wonderful combination."

Gwen didn't like his smile. It was too wide, and his eyes were too big and eager. "You're trying to figure out what's wrong with me. You've been on a series of bad dates and now you're expecting the worst," she said. _Or you know who I really am, and someone sent you to kill me._

He slapped a skeletal hand on the table with a _HA!_ "What are you? A detective?"

"I'm a dance teacher," she said tightly. His sudden animation had startled her, but Gwen kept her calm. "I mean, I teach how to tell a story through body movement, so I guess I'm good at interpreting body language," she clarified more kindly.

"Well maybe you should work with the police." Charles took an inhuman bite of his burger.

Gwen fought the paranoia by concentrating the food. She could've sworn she only saw Charles chew twice before he swallowed. _Did he even taste his food_ , she wondered. It was an expensive burger that she was paying for. He could at least savor it.

Another silence passed over them as they ate until Charles decided it was time to bring up the last woman he went out with. "She was a stripper," he said out of the blue. "She told me on the second date. Can you believe that?"

A bad feeling struck Gwen. "Can I believe that she was a stripper, or that she waited to tell you?"

He wasn't really looking for an answer and kept complaining. "What kind of self-respecting woman strips? She was probably having a good time with all the guys after I paid for her dinner. That was more than half my paycheck. Hell, we should've had the date at the strip club so I could've got a lap dance out of it, too. Spend the whole damn thing!"

Gwen pinched the bridge of her nose to gain an ounce of calm. _He wasn't going to kill her. He was just awful._ "First of all, men do it too," she pointed out. "And do you think they actually do their job for the _people_? They're not dancing for them. They probably make more in a night than you do in a week."

"Oh no, don't tell me you're one of them." Charles waved a fry at her like an extra creepy appendage. "Is dance teacher a cover up? Oh! You're a reformed stripper, that's it!" He took a mocking bite out of the fry. "Can I meet one girl that's not damaged goods?"

Gwen ate the last bite of her pasta salad and said, "I'm done." She quickly got up and made her way to the door.

"Hey!" Charles yelled after her. "What about the check?"

She turned around. "Check this!" she shouted back, flipping him off with both hands. Seeing his offended face was worth it. "Asshole," she grumbled when she turned back around and out the door.

Despite the excellent pasta salad, the date left a bad taste in Gwen's mouth until her students strolled in. She looked down the line of children in front of her. They were bouncing with energy, still innocent and full hope and big dreams. And if one of them grew up to be a stripper then _fuck it_ , Gwen thought, _at least they'll have rhythm._

"Okay, kids, who's ready to learn hip-hop this week?" There were cheers and some of the kids started to bust a move to the beat of their own excitement. "Wait, wait!" Gwen laughed. "You have to stretch first!"

* * *

Arthur sat in his office waiting for something, anything, to happen. He had hoped that the minute he stepped into the station there would immediately be a call that would throw him back into work.

He tilted back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling. He contemplated tossing up pencils to see how many he can make stick before Merlin came back with coffee, but that would require him to get up and get pencils from someone. All he had were pens, and he wasn't going to get up just to do something unproductive.

Arthur could hear the low hum of conversations and typing. He glanced at his keyboard and envisioned it covered in dust. He could be typing something if he had work to do.

The dull, but productive, drone outside his office was the soundtrack to his boredom until the volume of chatter increased. Before Arthur could turn his head to see what was causing a fuss, Merlin burst through the doorway, out of breath and without coffee.

"What is it?" Arthur jumped out of his chair, raring to go.

"He's here!" Merlin blurted after a gasp for air.

"Wh—" Arthur had been so consumed with boredom that he forgot what his return to work coincided with. "The superintendent?"

His partner nodded rapidly. "He's…" Merlin gulped, "The Witchfinder."

* * *

 **A/N:** We've got Gwen's bad day getting good at the end, and Arthur's boring day about to get interesting. Aredian is his new boss. Surely nothing bad will happen.

Also, I'm going to give myself a pat on the back for being able to tie in Arthur's "Now what?" from the end of the _The Taste of Freedom_ lol

And as always, **thank you** for reading and reviewing!


	4. The Witchfinder

**The Witchfinder**

Arthur and Merlin stepped out of the office just as Francis "The Witchfinder" Aredian came through the doors. The entire floor fell silent, anticipating the new superintendent's next move.

Aredian scanned the room with sharp eyes before making his way forward. Where Gaius had routinely taken the same path to his office with a steady gait, Aredian walked it with a rigid and authoritative manner, one calculated step in front of the other. He studied every employee he passed, and it seemed like forever before he made it to Arthur and Merlin.

He homed in on Merlin first. Out of the corner of his eye, Arthur swore he's never seen Merlin stand straighter. Then Aredian's attention was on him, and Arthur felt himself become the most vertical he's ever been as well.

"DCI Arthur Pendragon." They've never met before. The closest Arthur came to meeting his idol was when his father told him he sat next to Aredian at a charity dinner. Now he was standing face to face with him. "My office in ten." And with that, Aredian walked off into what was once Gaius' office.

The room let out a collective sigh of relief and everyone went back to work.

Merlin slumped against the wall. "Well that was terrifying."

"Too bad I don't have a coffee to drink while I wait for the next nine minutes," Arthur said, crossing his arms.

"I was gonna get it, but then I saw…" Merlin stopped when he noticed Arthur's cranky stare. "Right, you don't care. I'll go get it now, assuming you won't be in there long so it'll still be hot when you're done." Merlin pushed off the wall and headed out, asking anyone else along his way if they wanted coffee too.

Back in his office, Arthur tried to shake out his nerves. He was about to have a one on one with his idol and he had to keep his cool and be professional.

He fixed his hair and adjusted his tie in the reflection of his computer monitor. He had six more minutes and wondered if he should rehearse an introduction, but Aredian already knew who he was.

Arthur drummed his fingers on his desk nervously. He didn't know what to prepare for, and he had four minutes left.

He grabbed the snow globe, gave it an aggressive shake, and watched the artificial snowflakes settle around the dragon until the very last one.

He checked his watch again. Two minutes.

 _Goddammit._ Arthur knew he could get to Aredian's office in five seconds. So what if he was one minute and fifty-five seconds early.

It was the slowest five second walk of Arthur's life. Aredian's door was open, and he could see him reading a document. Arthur knocked on the doorframe. "You wanted to see me, sir," he said, keeping his tone neutral so he didn't sound eager and to not make it sound like he was asking. Of course Aredian wanted to see him. He told him to come.

The new superintendent looked up from the file and frowned. "I said ten minutes."

Arthur looked at his watch and at the clock on the wall. They were both on time, and there was still a minute to spare.

"Wait there," Aredian said and went back to his reading.

Arthur fought back a frown. "Yes, sir," he didn't argue.

"Quiet," Aredian commanded.

And Arthur obeyed. He looked over his shoulder to see Gwaine giving him a confused look, and Arthur silently responded with a small shrug.

"Close the door and sit down," Aredian ordered, snapping Arthur's attention back to him.

Arthur quickly sat down. "It's an honor to meet you, Superintendent Aredian. You've met my father once. He spoke highly of you."

"Uther's death was a shame. Imagine if you didn't let Guinevere Leodegrance go." Aredian made a _huff_ when he glanced at another sheet. "She was quick to change her name back," he remarked.

Arthur wasn't expecting this, and any excitement he had was extinguished. "I don't blame her for my father's death."

Aredian finally looked at him. "I'm surprised there wasn't more in the news about Tauren's demise."

"The news outlets got the information they needed," Arthur said.

"This department is very _picky_ about what information is let out." Aredian punctuated his statement with a firm tap on the desk with his pen.

That bothered Arthur. Gaius hadn't let one scuff or coffee ring mar that desk surface, and now Aredian violated it with a single black ink dot. He composed himself and defended the department's actions. "As should all. When there's a killer on the loose, the news will be informed and updated, but they don't need to know every isolated incident where person tried a hand at homicide."

"They weren't told it was Uther Pendragon's own son who put Tauren down," Aredian said. "Think of the publicity."

"I don't need them in my business."

Aredian put down his pen and folded his hands on the desk. "How did it feel to get revenge?"

"I've already talked out the effects of the incident, thank you, sir," Arthur said through a false smile.

"That's a very significant first kill for an officer—wait." Aredian pulled up another file. "Andrew Jones."

The name didn't ring a bell. "Who?"

"He was dubbed the prostitute killer."

Arthur clenched his jaw. Aredian had dug up his case files involving Gwen that Merlin swore he buried in the darkest recesses of the evidence locker. They called him the Witchfinder because he always found the culprit. They could be invisible and Aredian could still sniff them out.

"Ms. Leodegrance was also there, but I guess given her history it's not a surprise that she is no stranger to such a location," Aredian said offhandedly as he skimmed the file. "Yes, it says here that you shot him in the back."

Arthur glared. "I know what it says."

"Three times."

"He was a juggernaut." The words spilled quickly and naturally out of Arthur's mouth. He felt himself sit straighter, ready to answer anything without hesitation. "He was a hard man to take down."

Aredian flipped over another page, scanned it, and then glanced up at Arthur. "Ms. Leodegrance also assisted in the shutting down of the Crystal Club."

The way Aredian was using facts as questions was starting to annoy Arthur. "Clearly you've read the file. You know why she was able to provide us with intel."

The _hmph_ that Aredian made even sounded mocking. "It's easier for you to work with a killer than catch one."

"Evidence shows she is innocent," Arthur defended.

" _Evidence._ Evidence seems to go missing in this department, and I'm going to make sure it's stopped." Aredian looked Arthur hard in the eye from over his desk. "Murder is murder."

Arthur's blood went cold. _"It upsets you that I got away with it…"_ he recalled Gwen telling him, _"I may have orchestrated his death without getting blood on my hands, but murder is murder, and it's your job to put murderers away. But I'm the one that got away."_

Murder is murder. It was the title of Aredian's second book, and had been a belief that Arthur had adopted in addition to utilizing Aredian's writings to be the successful detective that he is.

"Maybe I should make an example out of Ms. Leodegrance," Aredian said.

Arthur jolted forward in his seat. "You can't do that!"

There was a threatening look of determination in the superintendent's eye. "And why not?"

"She's worked hard to rebuild her life, she's saved lives," Arthur said with passion. "She's provided us with valuable information, she's—"

"She's your informant?" Aredian asked, cutting him off.

"Yes," Arthur replied with confidence.

There was the slightest slouch in Aredian's posture for the first time as he eyed the papers in front of him. "I didn't find any documentation of that."

"I guess the Witchfinder misses a few things now and then," Arthur said with icy sarcasm.

Aredian's face was tight and neutral, but his tone was harsh. "That will be all, Detective Pendragon."

"Superindtendent." Arthur rose from the chair and turned to leave. Before he could make it out the door, Aredian curtly told him to shut the door behind him. The thought of slamming it crossed his mind, but Arthur bet that Aredian was expecting him to, so he closed it gently. He had a white-knuckled hold on the doorknob though.

Two steps away from being back in his own office, Arthur was intercepted by Merlin struggling to hold one coffee in his left hand and the weight of four in a flimsy cup holder in his right.

"How was it?" his partner asked, handing over the cup in his left so he can hold the tray with both hands.

Arthur resisted the urge to squeeze the paper cup to avoid scalding burn. "Don't meet your heroes."

* * *

 **A/N:** Soooo about how in the last chapter Gwen's date was supposed to be named Francis and I wanted to use Charles as Aredian's first name because he's played by Charles Dance. But I guess in my excitement to write this chapter I forgot and named Gwen's date Charles lol.

 **Thanks** for reading and reviewing! See you next time!


	5. Signature Required

**Signature Required**

When Arthur saw Aredian leaving with his coat and hat, he rushed over to Elena's desk. "Where's George?" he asked as casually as he could while looking around anxiously.

"Downstairs," Elena said. "Want me to get him?"

"No, no, no!" Arthur quickly waved off the suggestion, and he saw Elena's face grow confused. "I need you to do something for me, and you _can't_ tell anyone."

Elena went into work mode immediately. "What do you need me to do?"

Arthur didn't go into detail about the conversation he had with Aredian, but stressed that he needed an informant agreement that didn't exist. "Can you change the date and scan it into the system after I get the signature. And then the paper copy can go missing, but it'll in the computer or something? It seems like Aredian didn't have the foresight to check the system."

"Or he has something against technology," Elena said as she pulled out the freshly printed form and handed it to Arthur. "Are you coming back tonight or tomorrow?"

"Tonight," he said, and ran off to get the paper signed.

* * *

Arthur tried calling Gwen several times, but she never picked up. He had to remind himself that she had more to do than sit around, cause trouble, and wait to be kidnapped. Now, she had dance classes to teach and others stirring up trouble for her.

Instead of leaving a message, Arthur went to her place. He needed her signature as soon as possible because he was sure that Aredian wouldn't wait to do more digging.

When he pulled up, Arthur saw the studio lights on and shadows through the curtains. There was still a class in session. He entered stealthy, only to realize that the bass from the music would've covered any noise he made. Across the room, he saw Sefa next to the stereo and Gwen leading a group of youngsters in an energetic routine. Some were slightly lagging and missed certain moves, but they were powering through with smiles on their faces.

A very purposeful _ahem_ caught Arthur's attention. Next to him were four dance moms sitting in folding chairs. The music stopped, and they all gathered around Arthur. He looked over them, and saw Gwen staring back before turning her attention to the kids. "We're going to do it one more time," he heard her say.

"We haven't seen you around before," said one of the moms, scrutinizing him through eyelids heavily covered in electric blue eye shadow.

Another one shushed her. "Can't you tell by how well dressed he is that he's a busy man," she looked him up and down. "Which one is yours? Is it Tony?" She pointed with a long stiletto nail. "He's blond like you, and we've never seen his parents."

Arthur took a small step back to get some distance. "None of them. I'm here to see Guinevere."

The four dance moms had identical looks of curiosity. "Oh, really?" the third one spoke up. She didn't even need to raise a brow. The overdrawn arch did it for her.

"Yes, really." Arthur thought these women would make awful interrogators.

"Interesting," the fourth mom stiffly commented. Arthur was sure her lips were having a battle with whatever was injected into them.

The kids got back into position and Gwen signaled Sefa to start the music again. The moms immediately went back to focusing on the children. Despite the music, it was the quietest two minutes of Arthur's life.

He watched as Gwen smiled encouragingly at the kids through the mirrored wall. It was one of the rare moments he witnessed Gwen being herself and having fun. He hoped that he wasn't about to ruin it for her.

When the dance ended, the children cheered and congratulated each other for finally perfecting the routine. After everyone got a high five at least twice, they gathered their belongings. While they did so, the mom's went back to badgering Arthur.

The first mom asked him what he did, and Arthur didn't want to tell her that he worked for the police and start gossip about why a cop was visiting Gwen. Luckily, her daughter came running up to her, wrapping sweaty arms around her middle.

The mom forced out a giggle and pulled her child off. "This is my daughter. Do you have kids?"

"Great job today, Carly," Gwen interrupted them, patting the mom's daughter on the shoulder. She ignored Carly's mom and turned her attention to Arthur. "Det—Arthur," Gwen quickly corrected herself. Like Arthur, she didn't want to explain to the nosey moms why there was a detective at the studio. "What's up?"

"Um…my sister wanted me to drop something off to you since you're on my way home," Arthur lied and enunciated his words so the moms could hear the boring tale and lose curiosity.

Gwen caught on. "Oh, right. I've been waiting for it. Just wait a moment." She stepped away to help the kids pack up.

Dissatisfied by Arthur and Gwen's exchange, the moms left with their kids, and just in time to see the parents they made jabs at for not being as obsessive as they, pick up their children on time like any good parent would. Once the final child left, it was Sefa's turn to leave. She waved goodbye and gave them their privacy.

Arthur and Gwen went into the back room where there was a reception desk and round table, like a break room and an office combined in one.

"Sefa looks well. Everything is patched up between you two?" Arthur thought he'd open the conversation up with casual chit chat before telling her of his boss' threat.

"Yeah," Gwen said. "But more importantly, what's wrong?" She saw right through him.

Arthur shoulders fell, and he pulled the agreement out from his inside pocket. "I need you to sign this."

Once in her hands, Gwen skimmed it before reading it thoroughly. "Do you always have people sign important documents with the wrong date on it?"

"Only for special occasions."

"I was only joking about being a confidential informant."

"You're not really going to be an informant. Not if I can help it." Arthur didn't want Gwen risking her life by being forced to snoop around suspected killers in the seedy circles she used to be part of. "I just need your signature."

Gwen started back at the top of the agreement. "Why?"

Arthur clenched his jaw. "Why can't you just be one of those people who sign things without reading what they're signing off on?"

"I asked you first," she retorted.

He let her win. "The new boss isn't satisfied with how your case ended and how involved you been in investigations. He questioned about you being an informant and I went with it. This may get him to stop prying."

First Gwen thought he was talking about Tauren, but then she remembered that she murdered her husband. She almost laughed at herself for forgetting that pivotal moment in her life. "Are you sure it'll stop him?"

"No," Arthur said, a frown etching into his face, "but it's worth a shot. If you agree to work with the police, it'll show you're less of a threat. Just don't kill anyone in the meantime."

"I'll try," Gwen muttered, still reading. "Thanks for encouraging me to call back that guy, by the way. It was the worst date of my life." As she got lower down the page, she blindly grabbed a pen out of a cup full of them varying in colors and logos, several from the same bank. "I have the worst luck with men."

"We're not about to have girl-talk are we?" Arthur snickered, and glanced at his watch. "Because I don't have the time or the appropriate genitalia."

Gwen paused from reading, but didn't look up. Arthur could tell by the raise of her right cheek that she was smirking. "On a scale from 1 to 10, how stressed are you right now?"

"20," Arthur confessed. He could tell by the movement of her cheeks that Gwen was trying not to laugh at him. Taking a look around, he saw a box of pencils off to the side of the desk. "Do you need those?" he pointed to them.

Gwen quickly glanced over then went back to the form. "No. I bought them and I don't even have a sharpener. I'm just going to get mechanical pencils next time I go out."

Arthur reached over and put them in his pocket.

"What do you need them for?"

"Don't worry about it."

Done reading the agreement, Gwen gave Arthur her full attention. "How often is Merlin mistaken for the weird one in your partnership?" She signed the document and playfully shoved it into his chest.

"Great," Arthur said, catching both her insult and her hand against his chest, and chose to ignore the former. "Gotta go," he grinned, patting her hand before separating from her. He could hear her light laughter follow him out the door.

* * *

Arthur rushed back up to his floor, and found Elena waiting patiently at her desk. He passed agreement off to her, and he watched her upload it into the system. She spit out jargon about code and tricking the system into believing the form was processed at an earlier date, but he didn't care as long as it worked.

"And _voila!_ " Elena beamed.

"That's it?"

"Yes."

Arthur exhaled. "Thanks. I owe you."

Elena didn't wait to ask for her favor. "You can drop hints to Percival that I like him."

"I, uh, wasn't expecting that." Arthur put out his hand and Elena grabbed it to shake. "But yeah, I'll tell him you like him."

Arthur reveled in seeing Elena's eyes widen and her face go pink. She swatted him repeatedly. " _Hints!_ I said _hints!_ "

"I'm kidding!" he laughed and she backed off.

"You know, we could've left today's date on it. If Aredian asked, you could've just said that even you couldn't find it, and it's not in the system because we're operating on _garbage_ , so you had Gwen sign a new one." Elena threw a disgusted glare at her computer. "I'd add in the garbage part if I had to cover for you."

Arthur stared blankly at her. "Why didn't you say that before?"

"It's fun to see the great Detective Pendragon sweat." It was Elena's turn to laugh at his expense. "But making Aredian look digitally challenged is a good move."

Arthur shook his head at her and sat in George's chair. He brought out the pack of pencils and pulled a post-it off the stack. Elena passed him a marker when she saw there wasn't a writing utensil in sight on George's desk, and Arthur didn't dare open a drawer and risk moving something out of place.

Arthur wrote "s _harpen"_ and signed his stuck it to the box, and placed neatly in the center of the desk. Reading over the note again, it seemed too direct and impersonal, so Arthur squeezed a _"please"_ above it.

 _ **please**_ _  
_ _ **SHARPEN.**_

- _ **Arthur**_

That looked a little more polite. _Aredian probably never says please_ , Arthur thought. When he moved from George's desk, he saw Elena give him a knowing smile. "What?"

She reclined in her chair, crossed her arms, and propped her legs up on her desk. "I've seen you quick to action many times, but you run on at a special kind of speed when Gwen's involved. You really care about her, don't you?"

Care was a word with many meanings that covered a lot of ground in terms of feelings.

"I do," Arthur said. It summed up his feelings perfectly.

* * *

 **A/N:** Oh those silly dance moms. More will be popping up in the future. And if anyone has any ideas for little murder mysteries Arthur should investigate, feel free to let me know. Arthur can't sit in his office forever (technically he can if I write it lol).

 **Thanks** for reading and reviewing! It means a lot!


	6. That Kind of Change

**That Kind of Day**

Arthur would mark today as the first day in his career where he didn't want to go to work. There were days when it was harder to get up, but today he wished for the mass extinction of the human race just so he didn't have to see Aredian.

Standing under the shower didn't wake him up in the slightest. When he looked in the bathroom mirror, he saw that he could probably do with a shave but decided the stubble wasn't worth the energy. Arthur pulled one of many white button downs out of a drawer, but when he got to the pants, he opened the wrong drawer and grabbed a dark pair of jeans instead of bothering to open the right one. He put on a pair a boots and a black leather jacket without a second thought. His usual shoes and suit jacket wouldn't match anyways.

Arthur arrived to work on time, took the elevator instead of the stairs, and trudged across the room on the way to his office. He had his hands in his pockets and kept his head down, so he didn't see Merlin come up and grab him by the elbow, pulling him towards Aredian's office.

Snapping out of his sluggishness, Arthur yanked his arm back. "What are you doing?"

Noticing the change in Arthur's work appearance Merlin asked, "Is it laundry day?"

"Shut up." Arthur saw what Merlin brought him over for. There was police tape in an 'X' across Aredian's door. "Have I missed something?"

"We all did," Merlin said. "According to the janitor, it was here when he arrived. Aredian's not he—"

"What's the meaning of this?!" Aredian shouted as he stormed past them.

"Speak of the devil," Merlin muttered under his breath.

Aredian yanked the tape off the doorframe. "Who did this?"

It was Gwaine who spoke up. "Maybe it's up there or a reason, sir." Aredian stared coldly at him. "And just to be clear, it wasn't me. I can do much better." Gwaine shrugged off the glare with a smug grin.

"Get back to work!" Aredian barked. No one missed him open the door with caution. Unfortunately, no surprises jumped out at him.

Finally in his own office, Arthur found the pencils on his desk. He opened the pack to see them all sharpened to the same precise length and point. There wasn't anything to do yet, so he went to George and Elena's corner.

George wasn't at his desk but Elena was. "How's that thing?" he said vaguely in case anyone was listening.

Elena gave a casual wave. "You mean the thing that's been processed months ago and is where it should be?"

George came back with a coffee for Elena and tea or himself in his special mug. "What's where it should be?"

"Just a thing," Arthur said. "And thanks, George."

The techie looked startled. "For what?"

"For sharpening my pencils?" Arthur glanced at Elena. She also was wondering what was going on with her partner.

"Yes. Pencils. Right." George awkwardly said.

Thrown off by George's weirder behavior, Arthur tried explaining what he did just to clarify. "I was sitting at your desk last night. I hope I didn't accidently move anything out of place."

"Everything was fine. Thank you."

"Have you ever thought of designating a spot for a pen? That way it's always out and handy…unless someone steals it. Maybe it's not the best idea after all." Not getting a reaction from George, Arthur went on. "I almost went through your drawers but thought it was best not to."

"You…you didn't go through them?"

"No. I didn't have a warrant," Arthur deadpanned.

Elena snorted and George took a second before chuckling nervously.

"Relax, George. Police humor." Arthur spotted George's tell. A gulp. "But if I did happen to open a drawer last night, I wouldn't have found, say, a roll of police tape?" Arthur said only loud enough for the three of them to hear.

George caved. "Aredian wanted me to get a report to him by morning. Last night I went in his office to leave it on his desk and-and—There is no order in that room what so ever. Files go in a filing cabinet, not on top of them. Even a child knows that!"

This was the most amazing confession that Arthur's heard in his career. "Gwaine's not going to be happy that you beat him to a prank."

George bristled at the thought of being associated with such behavior. "It wasn't a _prank_. I was merely alerting everyone that behind that man's door is a _crime scene_."

"Right." Arthur shared an amused look with Elena. "Well, thanks again." He left them to their work.

George deflated. "I was going to take that to my grave."

"This is why he's the detective," said Elena, turning back to her work. "I should've known it was you. That tape job was so precise."

On the outside, George returned back to his straight-faced demeanor. On the inside, his was filled with pride.

* * *

There was nothing to do for most of the day. Finished with another pointless load of paperwork, Arthur took out a pencil and was ready to launch it tip first at the ceiling. He was a snap of his wrist away from its release when Merlin came in.

Before Merlin could say what he initially planned to say, he paused and looked at Arthur. "And they call me the weird one."

Arthur put the pencil down. "What now?"

Merlin clapped his hands together and grinned. "You'll be happy to hear that we've got a body."

It was a quaint residential area minus the flashing police lights and commotion from onlookers who gathered behind the yellow tape.

The officer guarding the scene lifted the tape for Arthur and Merlin, and they met with Alice at the front step of the house. Inside, the living room area was ransacked, and the mother was sobbing in her son's arms on the couch.

Arthur motioned for Merlin to talk to them. The officer that was speaking with them traded places with Merlin and escorted Arthur and Alice to the master bedroom.

"The victim is Franklin Gates." the officer informed. "And Gilli just started shooting in there now." A second officer standing outside the door stepped aside and let them through. "Here we are."

Gilli was shuffling around the room, taking pictures from every angle possible and momentarily cut off Alice as she made a beeline to the body.

Arthur remained at the door and surveyed the room. The closet door and drawers were open with clothing strewn about, a lamp was knocked over, and the mirror on the vanity was shattered. The victim laid on his back in the bed, and his upper chest to the wall was covered in blood.

Arthur walked up to the bed and stood next to Alice. Franklin Gates' face was bashed in.

"Judging by his position, he sleeps on his back and was still asleep when the attack happened," Alice said.

"Guess he was a heavy sleeper." Arthur bent slightly to get a better look at the damage. He made a quick assessment and straightened. "Multiple blows?"

"Very likely." Alice pulled out her pen and pointed to a prominent indent. "My money's on a baseball bat."

Merlin came in and stopped short. "Why do they always go for the head? Is that brain matter on the wall?"

There was a very chucky blood splatter on the wall above the victim. "Hair," Alice confirmed, "and a tooth." She waved Gilli over, directing him to spots she wanted him to focus on.

Arthur moved away and looked at the wedding photo on the vanity. "He _had_ facial hair."

Merlin shuddered. "The wife and kid are staying with her sister."

"Did you get anything useful from them?"

"Mrs. Gates, the wife, said her husband called her from work this morning to say he was going home early because he wasn't feeling well. She came home and found the house a mess and Mr. Gates…well," Merlin gestured to the body. "Robert, the son, came home a bit after his mum. He's the one who called it in. Mrs. Gates was in hysterics."

Alice looked up from the notes she was making of the body. "So the home invader killed a napping Mr. Gates in case he woke up to find he was being robbed?"

"Or it wasn't a home invasion." Arthur turned back to Merlin. "How's the boy?"

"You think he did it?" Merlin asked. "I was banking on the wife. It's always the spouse."

"It's not always the spouse," Arthur argued

"It's always the spouse," Alice said her face inches away from the head, too close for their comfort.

Arthur and Merlin both made faces, grossed out enough to make up for Alice's immunity real life gore. Merlin focused back on his partner. "And to answer your question, the son was upset but calm enough to form complete sentences."

Alice sighed and they looked back over to her. "I don't think I'll be able to move the body with the head intact," she said. "Gilli, can you get this at every angle you can so I can piece him back together in the morgue."

Gilli nodded and swiftly snapped away.

Arthur heard Merlin mutter something about high definition images of brain chunks and Arthur shook his head. "Hey Gilli, how many pixels do you think makes up a chunk of brain,"

The photographer looked like he was really thinking of an answer and Merlin pointed a threatening finger at him. "Don't answer that!"

* * *

 _Right when Arthur stepped out of the Gates residence, he got a call from Cerdan, a family friend on his mother's side that filled the role of kind but unlucky uncle._

 _Arthur could tell Cerdan was beating around the bus, so he asked him outright, "How much do you owe?"_

 _Cerdan's reply was quick. "Five hundred thousand." There was no way to sugarcoat it._

" _That's... a lot."_

" _I'm not asking you for a penny," Cerdan said, "but I do need a favor…"_

Less than a second after Arthur knocked, Cerdan's door swung open and the antsy man ushered Arthur in. "I'm sorry this is such short notice," he apologized. "My employer got a new—"

Arthur stopped him. "Don't tell me any details. The less I know the better."

Growing up, Arthur heard his father express his displeasure with Cerdan's odd jobs, but supported him because it's what Ygraine would do. Cerdan worked hard, but was a trouble magnet. Arthur bailed him out whenever he could, but the price was too high this time.

Arthur looked around the flat. It was very clean and sparse. "Where's Mordred?"

Cerdan took a sorrowful glance at his son's bedroom door. "He's getting his things together. He'll be out in a few."

"I'll take good care of him, Cerdan," Arthur promised.

"I know." Cerdan let out a shaky breath. "You're the only one I trust."

Mordred had a growth spurt since the last time Arthur saw him. He dropped his duffle bags on the floor and adjusted his backpack straps on his shoulders. "Hey," the gloomy teen mumbled.

"Hi, Mordred. You look well." Arthur gave him a handshake. Mordred's grip was strong. Arthur noticed his eyes were watering and his jaw was clenched. Arthur brought up his other hand and gave the teen's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "I'll take your things down to the car and give you some time with your dad."

The wait wasn't long. Knowing Cerdan, he had prepared Mordred for this moment and there were no more words to say. Arthur saw Mordred rub his eyes before he got in the front seat. He didn't say anything once buckled in, so Arthur drove off.

They were halfway home when Mordred decided to talk. "This isn't the way to your place."

"Actually, it is," Arthur said. "I moved. And the guest room—your room—is really nice if I do say so myself."

"Cool."

"Yeah. I got a new place, took a month long vacation, played the new Call of Dragons game." Out of the corner of his eye, Arthur saw Mordred perk up.

"You got the new game?"

"If you want to play it tonight, we can. It's got split screen multiplayer." When Mordred didn't answer, Arthur felt like a dweeb. "Or you can play the single player campaign. I should probably go over work stuff."

In a small but eager voice, Mordred asked. "Can we? Please?"

* * *

A nearly empty box of pizza and five rounds later, Arthur and Mordred ended the game. Arthur wanted to go best out of 10, mainly because he lost 3 out of 5, but it was getting late. "I don't want to be the uncool guardian, but you have school tomorrow."

Mordred pouted at the thought of school, but thanked Arthur. "I haven't played videogames in a long time. Dad had to sell my console. He had to sell a lot of things."

"Play anytime you want," Arthur said. "Well, as long as you get your homework done first."

Mordred gave him a genuine smile, grabbed another slice of pizza, said goodnight, and disappeared up the stairs.

As Arthur tidied up, he thought about the wreckage inside the Gates residence. He went into his office to go over the photos Gilli sent him. On his second go through of the slideshow, Arthur stopped at a picture of the side table on the wife's side of the bed. Blood had splattered far enough to cross the bed and speckled the picture frame on the table.

Arthur hunched over, peering closer at the screen and zoomed in. In the photo, Mr. and Mrs. Gates stood with cheery faces. Their son was between them, his lips turned up but the smile didn't reach his eyes. It was a few years old judging from how much shorter their son was.

Robert was wearing a baseball cap in the photo, and Alice was almost positive that the weapon was a bat. That was not a good enough reason to pin the murder on the kid by connecting it to an old photo. Robert Gates was around Mordred's age now, full of hormones and teen angst. Was he so angry that he killed his father? Why? Did his father abuse him? His mother? Was it out of resentment?

 _Did Mordred resent his father?_

Arthur sat up. He didn't want to go there. If he started thinking about Mordred's situation and the potential of Robert being the killer before bed and full of junkfood, he was definitely going to have nightmares about being trapped in his house with a murderous Mordred. He could feel it already taking root in his subconscious.

 _Mrs. Gates did come home first though. Mr. Gates could've still been alive when she did._ _It could've been her._ Arthur let that be his last thought instead. _It's always the spouse._

Excitement was building. Interrogations will begin tomorrow, and Arthur was going to start his morning off right.

* * *

 **A/N:** I made up Call of Dragons. It was originally going to be Call of Duty, but then I was like…this is a Merlin fic, make it dragons. I imagine it as a first person shooter with magic and stuff.

Luther kinda took in/housed Jenny Jones in S2, so I brought in Mordred. Different storyline though. I don't wanna make Mordred a prostitute lol. But I wanted to give Arthur a big brother kinda role and maybe a family-like dinner with Gwen or something.

Guess you'll have to keep reading to find out *cackles*

 **Thanks** for reading and reviewing! (And Gwen will be in the next chapter. I promise!)


	7. Teenagers

**Teenagers**

"… _sidents in the area are advised to be extra cautious these next da—"_

Arthur turned off the television. He was tired of hearing news about the death of Franklin Gates. It was Aredian's idea to let news outlets know of the suspected home invasion. He said it was for the good of the people, but Arthur knew it was to implant fear. The more the public is scared, the bigger the heroes they appear when they catch the killer. Even if Mr. Gates' murderer wasn't a home invader, the minute they find them it will be all over the news. Arthur just wanted to do his job; he didn't like it when a spectacle was made out of it.

Mordred came into the kitchen dressed for school and his backpack slung over his shoulder. He rummaged through the refrigerator, pulled out a slice of pizza, and devoured it cold.

"What's the rush?" Arthur asked. "You still have an hour."

" _I'dun wanna 'is 'da 'us,"_ Mordred said with his mouth full.

Many lunches with Gwaine and Merlin allowed Arthur to have no problem understanding the teen. "I was going to drive you."

"No. It's ok. I want to." Mordred brushed his hands off on his pants leg. "Is it okay if I'm home a little late? Tyr and Daegal want to hang out after school."

Arthur was fine with it. "Sure. Just call if you need anything."

Mordred thanked him and was out the door.

* * *

Arthur and Merlin met with Alice down in the morgue. She confirmed that the murder weapon was indeed a baseball bat. A sliver of wood with part of the brand name was found in Mr. Gates' skull.

Alice held it up with tongs to show them. "It's one helluva spinter."

Merlin made a face. "Okay, so either Mr. Gates has a really hard head, or Mrs. Gates has a really mean swing."

"Or it was their son," Arthur muttered. The rest of the bat was still missing, but at least they could ask about it during the interrogations with confidence.

Once back on their floor, they found Gwen and Morgana being swarmed by the other officers.

Arthur was immediately filled with concern. "What's going on?"

Gwen appeared around Percival and went up to them. "Do we have to work on your in-person greetings now?" She greeted Merlin and then she went back to Arthur. "See. It's easy," she teased.

"Hello, Guinevere," Arthur corrected himself, fighting back his own a grin triggered by Gwen's infectious smile. "What are you doing here?"

She looked him up and down and pointed at his Henley shirt. "Casual Friday?"

"At least he shaved today," Merlin snickered. As Morgana moved out of the way, what he saw on the desk behind her made his eyes go wide. "Are those Seward's Pastries?"

Morgana was about to answer, but Gwaine beat her to it. _"'oo 'et 'ey are!"_ he said with a mouth full of apple turnover and pure joy on his face.

Morgana rolled her eyes at him. "As we were passing it, Gwen insisted we pick something up. I thought she was crazy because they're always sold out by now, but they pulled out a secret stash for Gwen."

Arthur wasn't buying it. "So you stopped here after to be nice and share?"

"We're going shopping!" Elena cheered. "I took a half day by the way."

 _That made more sense._ "You shop too much," Arthur said to Morgana.

Morgana waved him off. "I'm an editor of a fashion magazine. It's relevant to my job."

Gwen moved away and signaled to Arthur to join her before he can make a comeback. "So, are going to interrogate another killer wife?"

"How do you know about that?"

"Gwaine was very chatty before he got into the box."

"I see." Arthur stuck his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "It might not be her."

"It's always the spouse." Gwen gave him a wink and Arthur snorted. "Oh, _c'mon_!" She leaned in a little closer, and in a conspiring whisper she said, "You're talking to a statistic."

Arthur chuckled. Looking down at her, he took in how she has changed. Something was different in the way she carried herself. It could've been that she was wearing sneakers instead of heels, but he's seen her in casual clothing before. He couldn't put his finger on it.

Gwen caught him staring. "What? Is there something on my face?"

"Yeah. Freckles," Arthur blurted out. He didn't mean to, but it was the second time he's really noticed them since the day she appeared at the bar after returning from God only knows.

She looked at him funny.

Aredian walked in and his cold eyes locked on them for an agonizing second. "Ms. Leodegrance, see me in my office in five minutes." He then turned his attention to Arthur. "Pendragon, I hope your interrogation skills are more put together than your appearance."

"It helps me blend in with the common folk," Arthur fired back with a serious face. Aredian responded with his usual glare and went into his office.

Morgana came up to them. "What was that about?"

"He wants to speak with me?" Gwen said with uncertainty and moved towards Aredian's office, but Arthur stopped her.

"He means it when he says five minutes," Arthur said. "Shall I read you your last rites," he joked. Morgana slapped him on the arm. They waited until time was up before Gwen went to the door. Arthur couldn't help but think of a lamb being led to the slaughter.

"You're coming out with us later," Morgana said out of the blue.

"Am I?"

His sister nodded vigorously. "Tonight at the Red Dragon. You guys need a night out. Gwaine, Percival, Leon, and even _George_ are in. And where Freya goes, Merlin goes. All that's left is you, little brother."

"I don't have a choice, do I?" Arthur already knew the answer.

Morgana just smirked in response.

"I'll let Mordred know that I'll be home later than him." From Morgana's surprise he remembered that he forgot to tell her what happened. "Mordred is staying with me."

"Oh, how is he?"

"A teenager."

The siblings shared a small laugh together until Arthur deemed it time to get to work. "Unlike you right now, I've got a job to do."

Morgana gave him a push. "I was gonna buy you something nice, but never mind!"

* * *

Dread washed over Gwen the moment Aredian looked at her. Now in close quarters with him, she couldn't shake it off. She noticed that the chair she was sitting in was different than the one she sat in when it was Gaius' office. Gaius' chair felt like a dream next to the electric chair she felt like she was in.

"How would you describe your relationship with DCI Pendragon?" Aredian started with.

Gwen didn't realize she could be thrown more off guard. "Relationship?"

"Would you say that you are _friends_?" Aredian added.

She didn't like his tone. "I believed he once described me as a pain."

"Once," Is all Aredian said.

"Sorry?"

Aredian made the slightest move forward and the room felt smaller. "You said he _once_ described you as a pain. What about now? He seems to go out of his way for a…" he paused to size her up. " _pain._ "

She wanted to shrink away, but Gwen couldn't lean back in the chair if she tried. "He just does his duty."

"His duty is to solve crime. If you are as DCI Pendragon claims, you risk blowing your cover and his by loitering around here."

"Would you prefer us meet in dark alleys?" The slight clench of Aredian's jaw let Gwen know she victoriously struck and nerve. It wouldn't help her situation, but it was a small win.

It took a moment before Aredian appeared to relax. "I will not tolerate inappropriate behavior. I will not have you put my team in unnecessary danger. I will not have your personal life and contagious recklessness be the downfall of this establishment."

Gwen gripped the arm of the chair. "I think it's time for me to go."

"Yes. It is."

* * *

Arthur looked at Robert Gates from across the table. The teen leaned back with his arms crossed. He looked everywhere except at Arthur. "Robert, do you like sports?"

Robert's eyes finally went to Arthur. "Yeah."

"How about your dad?"

Robert glanced away. "Yeah."

It was a small opening, but Arthur was going to take it. "We suspect the weapon used was a baseball bat. Was there one in the house?"

"Other than the one I practice with?"

"Right," Arthur nodded. "One wasn't recovered. If this was a home invasion, was the bat in a visible place?"

Robert went from stoic to uncomfortable. "I left it in the living room last night. Dad tripped over it, and he... Mum moved it, I think."

"What did your dad do after he tripped, Robert?"

"He got mad..." the boy mumbled.

"At you or your mother?"

"Both."

Arthur gave Robert a moment before he continued. "And your mother… How did she appear when you found her?"

Robert straightened. "You think she did it?" The chair screeched as he quickly pushed back and got up. "I don't want to be here anymore."

"Just one mor—"

"I don't want to be here!" Robert shouted, and an officer came in to take him away.

Arthur let out an exhausted sigh. When he came out of the room, he saw Mrs. Gates envelope her son and calm him down. After she passed him to her sister, she went to Arthur.

"I'm ready. I don't want to drag this out," she said. "I did it. I killed my husband. I didn't want him to hurt my Robbie anymore." An officer stepped forward to take her away, but Merlin stopped him, giving Mrs. Gates time to kiss her son and her sister goodbye.

When Mrs. Gates was finally led away, Arthur turned his attention back Robert and his aunt. He didn't like the look they shared with each other.

Something was wrong.

* * *

While they waited for the girls, George treated them to the first round. Warmed up, he finally admitted he was the one who taped up Aredian's door.

"Our George is all grown up," Gwaine said, brushing away an invisible tear.

When the girls arrived, Arthur stood up to let them in the booth. He tactfully stopped Gwen, letting Elena in first so she could sit next to Percival. They dragged over another table and chairs, and constantly swapped seats every time someone got up, though Elena and Percival managed to stay together each time.

Morgana decided it would be fun to flirt with George. It was entertaining until she laid a hand on George's forearm and he jumped, spilling his beer. It splashed on Gwen's arm, and she went to the restroom to wash it off.

Sitting at the end of the booth, Leon was able to see the entrance door open and Aredian come through it. "It's Aredian!" They all turned to see the superintendent going straight to the bar.

"Arthur," Morgana said, getting her brother's attention. "After Gwen spoke to him, she was upset. I don't think—"

"Way ahead of you," he was already getting up and hastily making his way to the restrooms. Arthur didn't know whether to barge into the ladies room and get her or wait and risk being seen by Aredian. Luckily Gwen came out shortly after. He grabbed her hand and started pulling her to the back exit.

"Aredian's here," was all he had to say. He felt her squeeze his hand, understanding.

They made it out in the fresh air, and Arthur took a deep breath and then exhaled. "That was close."

"My hero," Gwen swung their hands back and forth before letting go. " _Sooo_ …do we just wait here?"

"I drove. We can wait in my car." Arthur's phone vibrated. It was a text from Merlin.

 **Aredian's sitting with us while he waits for someone. Gonna be a while**. The message ended with the poop emoji.

They ended up at a nearby food truck. Arthur had to pay because Gwen's purse was still in the booth. Arthur texted Morgana to let her know what was happening.

"Aredian's not wrong about _this_ ," Gwen gestured between them, "being inappropriate."

"That's what he spoke to you about?" Arthur couldn't say he disagreed.

"And apparently I possess the ability to ruin you and the entire serious crimes unit. I think he gives me too much credit." Gwen laughed at herself. "Maybe I'll get you killed. Hell, I could be the one who kills you."

Arthur could hear the lack of conviction in her voice. "I've seen you dance with children. You're not so scary anymore."

"Aredian doesn't seem like the man to cross."

"Gaius said to give him hell." Arthur thought about the former superintendent's words. "He didn't know it would be Aredian, but…" he finished with a shrug.

Gwen smiled. "Always the loyal one, detective."

Arthur's phone repeatedly buzzed. He was getting a call. He expected it to be Merlin or Morgana, but it was the station calling.

"Pendragon," he answered. The officer on the other end gave him news he wasn't expecting.

* * *

Arthur told Gwen it would only take a minute, and ran into the building. It was still early in the night, but the first floor was very active. Among the drunken adults handcuffed to their seats and petty criminals, Arthur saw Mordred and a teenage girl sitting furthest away from the others. He frowned at Mordred and went to the officer at the desk. "What happened, Jimmy?"

"Caught them doing graffiti. There were two others, but they got away," Jimmy explained. "The moment he was caught, he dropped your name."

Back over were the teens were, Arthur had to stop himself from laughing at Mordred grimacing at the older drunk woman blowing kisses at him from the opposite wall. "How has it been?"

Jimmy looked up at the clock on the wall. "Not long. Probably about a half hour since picking them up. I called you right when we got here. The girl's mother is on her way now."

"You should've let him sweat a bit." Arthur and Jimmy laughed. "Thanks." He motioned for Morded to follow him out. Like the officer, Arthur opened the backdoor of his car and led Mordred in.

"Guinevere, this is Mordred. Mordred, this is Guinevere," Arthur introduced them. "She's coming home with us."

Gwen turned to Mordred. "You can call me Gwen." Mordred looked down and away. Gwen then faced Arthur and they shared a look that said _teenagers._

On the way home, Arthur explained to Gwen that Mordred was staying with him for a while, and to Mordred he said Gwen was locked out until she got her purse from Morgana.

When they got inside, Mordred went straight to his room.

"We're gonna discuss this later!" Arthur called after him. They heard the door slam, and then Arthur received another call from the station. The moment he answered, Jimmy spoke.

"You need to get back here right away!"

* * *

 **A/N:** I unintentionally made the comparison of the comfort of Aredian's chair vs the interrogation room chair. Did anyone catch that? I didn't until I reread it for the final time lol.

And sorry for the wait! I have no excuses.

 **Thank you** for reading!


	8. Murder is Murder

**Murder is Murder**

They all made the mistake of watching Aredian's every move at the bar while he nursed his drink. When the superintendent was finished with his pint, they all made eye contact with him. After much hesitation, it was Leon who waved Aredian over.

Gwaine decided to start up a conversation. He tried to joke, asking if Aredian was waiting for a _special lady_. Aredian had no reaction to Gwaine's humor and flatly told them he was meeting a former colleague to offer them a position as another medical examiner.

 _Alice isn't going to like that,_ everyone thought.

It was Aredian's turn to ask a question. "Where's Pendragon?" It sounded more like he demanded an answer rather than have casual interest in why Arthur was not with the group.

Merlin answered while scooting closer to Freya. "He's, uh, working! Probably makes us look pretty lazy right now." He saw Aredian's eyes flick to Freya, and wondered if his boss even cared who she was. Merlin took a chance and introduced her. "This is my girlfriend, Freya."

"Nice to meet you, sir," Freya greeted, pushing through the nerves she felt from Aredian's stare.

" _Hnn,_ " Aredian eyes went back at Merlin, "Interesting."

Freya and Merlin shared a look. _What did that mean?_

The cell phone between Freya and George vibrated loudly on the table. It was Gwen's phone. Everyone stared at it until it stopped. Then it went off again.

"Is anyone going to answer that?" Aredian was mostly speaking to Freya and George.

Morgana reached across George, who blushed, and grabbed it. "It's mine." Aredian glanced at the phone in front of her that also went off. "My work phone." Morgana hoped Aredian left before they did so he wouldn't see her with two purses as well. Making Gwaine claim one as his own crossed her mind.

"You're Pendragon's half-sister," Aredian stated. "And you were at the station this morning with Guinevere Leodegrance."

Morgana didn't like that he pointed out the specifics of their relation. That was something only she and Arthur did when they were annoyed with each other. "I was there to pick up Elena. Is that a crime?"

"Definitely a Pendragon," Aredian remarked.

Morgana took it as a compliment.

After an excessive amount of awkward silence, it was broken by the upbeat tune of Merlin's ringtone. Seeing Arthur's name on the caller-id, Merlin answered it right away. Arthur asked if Aredian was still there. "Yeah, are—" Merlin shut up because his partner told him to. Just listen, Arthur said.

They all watched Merlin until he said, "Okay, see you soon," and hung up. "Duty calls," he told them, and kissed Freya goodbye.

"Emrys," Aredian stopped him from leaving. "What is it?"

After Merlin let Arthur know that Aredian was still with them, Arthur told him not to tell their boss what he was about to say. "Nothing, sir. My partner just needs an extra set of hands."

* * *

Babysitting was the last thing Gwen thought she'd be doing tonight. Arthur told her that he'd tell Morgana to come to his so she can bring her home. With no form of communication, it became a waiting game.

She glanced at the stairs for what felt like the hundredth time, wondering if she should go up and talk to Morded. She should at least let him know that Arthur's handling an emergency and that she's stuck there. It was easy to find his room because all the doors were open except for one. She knocked on it and didn't get an answer. She decided against trying again and moved away from the door.

Gwen took the opportunity to look around. What caught her attention was the office. It was bigger than his old one which allowed for more clutter, but there appeared to be an organization to the chaos. There were stacks of files across the floor and on the futon, but each were in their own spot with purpose. She migrated to the bookcase, stepping over another stack of files, and saw it was filled with criminology books. There was a gap on the row above her eye line, so the row was collapsed like dominoes.

By the wastebasket next to the desk, were three books stacked in a haphazard pile. Gwen crouched down and picked up the one on the top. _Murder is Murder_ , by Francis Aredian. She remembered saying the same thing to Arthur. "And it's your job to put murderers away," Gwen repeated her words to herself.

The other two books were also written by Aredian. She flipped through the pages of _Murder is Murder_ ; they were filled with highlighted paragraphs with notes in the margins. She didn't have to crack open the other ones to know they will look the same.

Gwen put the book back and made her way back down to the kitchen. A refrigerator is the equivalent of a medicine cabinet. She opened it and found nothing but condiments and a large pizza box with one slice left in it. She wasn't surprised. Her brother and father would've starved to death if she didn't do the grocery shopping and cooking. A wave of sadness washed over her as she thought about her family for the first time in a while.

She sighed and closed the refrigerator door, revealing Mordred behind it, which surprised Gwen. _"Jesus!"_ she exclaimed, and was secretly pleased that Mordred was also startled by her reaction.

"Sorry," he apologized.

"It's okay." Gwen's heart rate slowed back down. "Arthur had to step out."

"Is he making you babysit me?"

"I'm stuck here too," Gwen said, not completely answering Mordred's question. "Morgana has my purse, which has my wallet, phone, and keys, so I'm waiting for her." They moved to the couch. "So, was tonight your first time in the back of a cop car?"

Mordred remained tightlipped. Gwen figured it was the wrong question to break the ice with.

Not wanting to push the teen, Gwen turned on the television to add noise to the quiet room. The late night news was on. _**Breaking**_ _ **News**_ was in bold red letters underneath the reporter. _"…velopment in the murder of Franklin Gates."_

The camera zoomed in on Arthur and Merlin coming out of the house. Right when the reporter vocalized her intent to approach them to ask questions, Arthur purposefully walked in the opposite direction and Merlin waved them off. The reporter faced the camera again. She looked uncomfortable after being thrown off from her plan. _"Um, uh, we'll report back immediately should there be any new developments."_

The sudden bang and curse against the front door caused Gwen and Mordred to jump for the second time. Gwen got up and put herself between Mordred and the door, her heart pounding as she stood her ground.

The door opened to reveal Morgana. "Miss me?" she beamed, coming in and handing Gwen her purse. "I tripped on the top step. Your bag saved my face from the door," Moragna laughed. Gwen cursed her paranoia, but smiled at Morgana's story. "By the way, you have an obscene amount of messages from a Janis."

When Morgana saw Mordred, she joined him on the couch and hugged him around the shoulders. "How are you, Mordred? I almost didn't recognize you with all that hair," she said, ruffling the dark mop on top of his head.

Gwen skimmed Janis' text pestering her about how her daughter deserved more attention than the other students because she is better, and then she deleted them. If Janis asked later, which she will, Gwen will say she never received them. She put her phone away and turned her attention to the couch. She watched Morgana try to coax Mordred out of his brooding. "Maybe you can get more words out of him than I could," she joked with Morgana.

Mordred pouted and Morgana pinched his cheek. "You weren't so shy the last time I saw you." Morgana laughed as he batted her hand away.

"I'm not a kid anymore, Morgana," he said, crossing his arms with a huff.

Morgana sighed and got up. "I'm taking Gwen home. When I get back, we're going to talk about what you did tonight." Mordred looked shocked that she knew. "Arthur told me," she explained. "I trust you won't sneak out before I get back."

Gwen adjusted her purse and waved at Mordred. "Nice meeting you."

The teen slouched deeper into the couch. "You, too," he mumbled.

That was a nice surprise for Gwen.

* * *

 _Patricia, Mrs. Gates' sister, was frantic. "I'm not letting my sister dump her hellspawn on me! I put sleeping pills in his tea just so I can go out without him being suspicious."_

" _You think Robert killed his father," Arthur inferred._

" _I know he did. My sister told me!"_

" _She already confessed, and it's your word against hers."_

" _Robert's never been right in the head." Patricia chewed on her thumbnail, thinking about the stories her sister shared. "Meg always told me how he would get teased in school. They called him Norman, she said. Norman Bates. Bates rhymes with Gates." She began to shake. "Christ, even Frank was scared of his own son!"_

 _Arthur put a comforting hand on Patricia's shoulder. He needed her to keep her composure "What else did your sister tell you?"_

Arthur and Merlin moved Robert's bed, and felt along the floorboards. Merlin pressed against one board and found it to be loose. They looked at each other and nodded. Merlin lifted it and underneath the floor was the fractured bat stained with blood.

They called in forensics to do the examination on the spot. It as dusted for prints and only Robert's were found.

Sometime between their arrival to the house and forensics confirming Robert's prints, a news crew arrived, probably tipped off by the neighbors. Arthur overheard the reporter wanting to do an interview, and walked away from them, even though his original intention was to gather the officers over there.

Patricia was waiting anxiously in her car. "Did you find it?"

Arthur could hear the worry in her voice. Had the bat not been there, they would be back at square one. "It was exactly where you said it was." He thought she would relax a little, but she still sat stiff in her seat.

"What if he wakes up before I get home?" she said. "What if he's waiting and watching the news? What if he knows? What if he gets away?"

Arthur glanced over at the officers doing crowd control. They are supposed to come along with them to escort Patricia home and arrest Robert, but now they were being held up. "Don't worry, you won't be alone," he assured her. "I'll be right back."

As he made his way over to the news reporter, the camera swiftly pointed at him. He may or may not come off as an asshole on camera. He'll find out on the morning news.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Threw a little _Psycho_ reference in there, haha. And Mordred's night out will be revealed in the next chapter!

 **Thank you** for reading and reviewing!


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